What a Pain! – Chapter Two

"Well, come in, Frank. I just got up a little bit ago; sit down and I'll make some coffee," Mike told the policeman.

"Thanks, Mike. Coffee sounds pretty great right about now." Frank yawned and sat down in the brown tweed recliner facing the kitchen area. He looked down at the floor and noticed Sir Pain-in-the-butt sitting near his feet. Frank reached down to pet the little cat. "Nice little cat you have here, Mike. What's his name?"

There was no response from the kitchen. "Mike?" Frank waited a few seconds then called out again. "Mike? Need a hand in there?" He got up and walked into the kitchen, where he found Mike standing near the sink, holding tightly to the edge of the counter. Mike's head hung down; his eyes closed.

Frank came up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Mike? You okay? What's goin' on, pal?"

Mike shook his head, keeping his eyes shut tightly. "Just...gimme a sec, Frank. I just felt a little dizzy...I'm okay."

"Look, how about you go sit down and I'll make the coffee, huh? You look kinda' pale there. Want me to call a squad?"

"No...no squad, I"ll be fine. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday's breakfast. I'm sure that's it. I will let you make the coffee, though," Mike allowed.

"Yeah, well, if lack of food is the problem, then I'm gonna make you some toast or something, too. Here, I'll help you to the chair."

Mike shook his head and waved off the police officer's assistance. "I'm okay, Frank, I can do it. I just got a little light-headed." He stood up straighter and unclenched his eyes and smiled weakly. "See? All better. The percolator is on the stove and the coffee's in the fridge. Mugs are to the left of the sink," he told the officer as he made his way to the living room.

"Yeah, okay. You just go sit down." Frank started the coffee and quickly found bread and butter for toast. He noticed the bluish lump peeking from beneath Mike's hair and doubted that Mike's dizziness was really the fault of not eating. Still, he thought a little sustenance wouldn't hurt either way. He kept glancing into the living room, but saw that Mike was just sitting in the chair, petting the little gray cat.

Once the toast was done, he brought it in. "Here, eat something. The coffee'll be done in a little bit. Feeling better?"

"Thanks, Frank. Yeah, I'm feeling better; sorry about that."

"Hey, don't apologize, I'm just glad you didn't fall over or something." The officer sat down on the sofa. "Now, you think you can tell me what happened last night?"

Stoker wiped a few toast crumbs from his mouth and nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Would you believe it kind of involves this little guy here?" He pointed to the cat, who was now on the floor, licking butter from a corner of toast Mike had given him.

"The cat?" Frank asked. "I don't recall hearing this. Let me get the coffee and we'll get started."

Frank yelled from the kitchen, "How do you want your java?"

"A little milk and sugar," Mike called back, then winced as his head resented the noise.

Frank returned with two mugs of steaming coffee and handed one to Mike. He sat back down and got out his clipboard and pen. "Ready?" he asked.

"Well," Mike said, "maybe I should begin a little while before the whole thing started." He pointed down to the cat. "Sir-pain-in-the-butt here was with me in the backyard. I had a couple of trees to plant, so I'd been working there since, oh, around four o'clock."

Pain jumped into Mike's lap and placed his front paws on his chest and gave a little lick to Mike's chin. Mike snickered and gently batted his buddy away. "Uh, anyway, I had finished planting the trees and pulling weeds in the garden, so I got some lemonade and was going to relax in the hammock for a bit. Ol' Pain, he likes to be right next to me, but this time, he kept pacing around the hammock and wouldn't jump up. Every time I closed my eyes, he'd bite at my fingers and do this chirpy-meow thing he does."

"So that's unusual for the cat?" Frank asked.

"Well, yeah... I thought it was. I mean, he's only been around for a little over a month, but he's kinda' made this his home. He's usually pretty laid back and I thought it was kind of odd," Mike said, looking at the cat.

Frank was writing and trying to keep up with Mike's take on things. "Go on," he told the tired fireman, "then what did you do?"

"Well, for awhile, I tried to ignore him. I really just wanted to relax and I thought he was getting annoying, but he just wouldn't quit." Mike recalled how Pain had kept nipping at his fingers and pacing nervously. "I finally got up 'cause I was going to put him outside the gate. I guess that's when I saw the smoke."

"About what time was that, Mike?"

Mike thought a bit, "Oh, I suppose around seven-thirty. Every time I'd toss the cat out, he'd jump back in and start pacing and meowing. He just wouldn't let me ignore him. Pretty soon he was full-out yowling. He'd never done that before, ever."

He continued, "He kept trying to get me to follow him down the sidewalk."

"Why did you think that, Mike?"

The engineer chuckled, "I don't know...maybe I watched too many episodes of 'Lassie'? He just kept going a few feet in front of me and looking back, then he'd yowl. Every time I'd try to go to him, he'd do it again. Before I knew it, we were halfway down the block." He laughed a bit, then squinted when he felt another wave of dizziness.

At the pause in conversation, Frank looked up from his clipboard. "Mike? You dizzy again?"

Mike nodded slightly. "Man, this is getting old. Don't worry, Frank, I'll be fine with some rest."

"You want to continue? You're not feeling sick are you?"

"No, no, I'm okay. Where was I?"

"The cat led you up the block."

"Oh, right. So, anyway, when I looked up again, I saw the smoke was coming from this old house that Mrs. Gavigan used to live in. She died about eight years ago, and nobody lives there anymore. There wasn't a huge amount of smoke yet, that I could see, so I thought I'd check it out."

"So, you went in the house?" Frank inquired.

"Well, I tried to go in the front door, but, the cat here, he ran around to the back and kept that yowling thing up until I followed him. Back there, I could see smoke coming from the upstairs window."

"Why didn't you call the fire department then?"

"I heard these noises coming from inside and I thought there might be people trapped. I figured I'd try to get them out first. I mean, by the time the fire department got there, that old place could have gone up like a tinderbox."

"Did you have any help?"

"No, not really. I saw Jerry and Paul running up, so I yelled at them to call the fire department."

"Who's Jerry and Paul?"

"Jerry Shears. He lives two doors down from me and three from the old house. Paul's his son"

"I see. What did you do then?"

"Well, I kicked in the back door. I pulled my t-shirt over my mouth and went inside. I wasn't going to go very far, I just wanted to see if anyone was in there; maybe I could get them out."

"Did it sound like people were in there?"

"Yes, I thought it did. The bottom level was pretty clear yet; not much smoke. I went through the kitchen and into the living room, but I didn't see anyone. I couldn't hear any sirens yet, so I thought I'd look upstairs." Mike frowned as he tried to recall some details.

"Were there people upstairs?"

Mike continued, "Well, I was taking it slow, because the stairs were pretty rickety. I heard a couple of loud "pops" from upstairs and all of a sudden two guys came running down the steps at me. I'm sure they weren't expecting to see me, and they shoved me out of their way." Mike paused for second, "I guess that's when I fell down the steps."

"Were you hurt?"

"Um, yes, a little. I whacked my head on the banister and wrenched my left shoulder."

"Did you see what they looked like or where they went?"

"No. I was knocked a little loopy, I guess. I was on the floor and I...couldn't get up. That's when this guy right here came in to get me."

Frank looked up in surprise. "The cat? The cat came in to get you?"

"Yeah, he really did. Kept up that yowling thing and he was biting my fingers and nose."

"Were you out of the house when the fire department showed up?"

"Um, yes, I got out by myself eventually, but we went out the back door and they busted in through the front."

"I see." Frank kept writing, "Did they know you had been in there?"

"Yes, I walked around front and spoke with Captain Stone and told him there were two people inside who had escaped."

"Did he want you to stay? Did you tell him you were injured?"

Mike sighed, "No, I didn't say anything about it. I didn't feel too bad then. I just found my cat and took him back home with me."

"You, uh, didn't tell the captain about the cat showing you the fire or getting you out?"

"Frank, seriously, would you have told anyone that?" Mike asked with a smile.

Frank smiled back, "No, probably not. Is that everything you can recall, Mike?"

"I think so. If I remember anything else, I'll call you. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, I think that'll do for now. I appreciate your help. Are you sure you're okay?" Frank inquired.

"I'm okay. I'm going to go take a couple aspirin and lay down for awhile. Besides, I've got my little rescue-cat here. We'll be fine."

Frank and Mike stood to shake hands goodbye and Mike teetered slightly again, which didn't go unnoticed. Mike smiled shyly and walked his friend to the door. The policeman wasn't keen on leaving the engineer alone and thought perhaps a call to the man's captain might be in order.